Give My Sakura Back
by Kathi-san
Summary: Sakura is tied up and kidnapped by Orochimaru, and taken off to a mysterious place. How will Sasuke get her back? SasuXSaku. Better than it sounds, please read! Rated T for language and scenes of violence.
1. The kidnapping

Hi guys!

Welcome to my third fic! It's another SasuXSaku. XD (I love that pairing!)

Enjoy!

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Sakura and Sasuke both lay on the picnic mat just on the bank of the lake, the orange/pink sunset shimmering over the water. It had been a beautiful day, the sun just peeping over the horizon line. It was also a friday, so the week at the Ninja academy was finally over.

Sakura lay on her stomach, popping a piece of sushi in her mouth every now and then. Sasuke was sitting back, his hands behind him supporting his body up. The two had been dating for about a year, and it had been the most magical year of their entire lives.

Sasuke sighed happily. "Ahh, I'm so glad it's friday! It always gets me in such a good mood!"

Sakura turned over to lie on her back, putting her arms above her head and stretching. "Nyeh, I don't know, I mean, it's just another Friday, they do happen every week!"

"Yes, but that means I get to spend a whole wonderful 2 days alone with you..." Sasuke said, crawling over to her and placing his lips on hers. Sakura returned the kiss, coaxing his lips open with hers, although there was very little coaxing to be done. Their tongues danced inside their mouths, fighting for dominance. Finally, Sasuke won, caressing her face as he did so. Sakura pushed him away to come up for air.

"Ahhh, Sasuke, not so furiously! It's like I did something wrong, and you're taking it out on me with your tongue!"

Sasuke chuckled, And put his arms and legs on either side of Sakura, his whole body now hovering over hers. "Well you did do something wrong..." He said with a light laugh. "You haven't been kissing me enough lately..."

With that he leant down again to kiss Sakura on the lips, but this time gently. He then worked his way down to her neck, where he started sucking and biting gently.

Sakura pushed him away. "Ah, Sasuke, no! I already have so many hickies, people will start to think I'm a leopard!" she said. "Seriously, I'm getting too many questions and it's so embarrassing!"

"But I have to show people you already belong to someone" Sasuke said in a whiney voice. "And besides, you taste so good!"

Saskura giggled. She had to admit that she enjoyed it anyway, so she let him. Sasuke leant down again and worked his way across her neck, sucking and making little bites. Sakura's gasps only urged him on, as she closed her eyes, her hands on the back of his head and neck as he went. Okay fine, she thought to herself, she _loved_ being hickied by Sasuke!

Around Sasuke's neck dangled the Haruno Crystal, the crystal that belonged to Sakura's family and had been passed down by generations and was almost 200 years old. Sakura had given it to him as a symbol of how much she cared and trusted him, and also to show everyone that he belonged to her.

Everybody knew the Haruno Crystal, and if sold, it would be worth enough to buy two small mountains. This crystal was the most prized possession of the Haruno clan, and Sasuke wore it securely, and protected it with everything he had, reflecting for how much he cared and protected for Sakura.

During their make-out session, little did either of them know, that just a few feet away, around ten sound ninja were watching them. One of them was watching through binoculars. He slowly lowered them down from his eyes.

"Ne, What did you see?" Another sound Ninja asked.

"Ugghh, She's just making out with Sasuke again. But remember our plan guys right? Orochimaru is waiting. We simply CANNOT fail this mission. We must get the Haruno Crystal."

The "dumb" ninja out of all of them suddenly spoke up. "Hey, I don't get it, Why don't we just ambush Sasuke, and get the crystal from him by force?"

The leader sighed. "Because, Baka, Orochimaru requested that we do not touch him! He seems to have a specific interest in him. Anyway, can't you see how much he cares for Sakura? Our plan is perfect!" He cackled evilly.

"Uhh, What's the plan again?"

The leader sighed again. "To kidnap Sakura, remember?!"

"Oh yeah!" The sound ninja laughed. "This will DEFINITELY work!"

"Yosh! Now all we have to do is wait until they leave and Sakura is alone..."

Back on the picnic mat, Sakura and Sasuke were still lying on the mat, Sakura snuggled up to Sasuke. Sasuke's hands were stroking through Sakura's hair, Sakura tracing small patterns with her fingers around on Sasuke's stomach, her head resting on his chest.

"We should go" Sasuke said "It's getting late..."

"Nooooo..." Sakura whined. "Stay here with me... I could just lie like this forever..."

"I wish I could, but it's already basically dark anyway, I wouldn't want my Sakura to get hurt..." He kissed the top of Sakura's forehead.

Sakura stood up. "Okay...fine! I'll call you tomorrow, I wanna see you more this weekend..."

Sasuke stood up and put one arm around her back, kissing her passionately. "I want to see you more too..." He said.

"I'll see you tomorrow! Je ne!" Sakura yelled as she walked off out of the park.

"Bye!" Sasuke yelled back as he walked away in the opposite direction.

On the way back to her house Sakura looked up into the night sky, the stars twinkling beautifully down at her. The cool night breeze blew a few small strands of her cotton-candy pink hair across her face. She breathed in the night air, inhaling it deep into her lungs. Something about it was so invigorating.

From far off, the sound ninja saw her leave.

"Alright, this is it. Let's go!" The leader said "Remember the plan guys!"

Sakura was walking slowly, enjoying the scenery as she went. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around sharply, eyeing the area behind her, her eyes narrowed. In the darkness she could see nothing. The footsteps had stopped.

She turned around slowly to face the way she was walking and continued on her way home. The footsteps started again. At the same time she heard another pair of footsteps join the first, but slightly to the right of her. More footsteps, all going the same pace as her. As a ninja, she could definitely sense a presence following her.

Finally, she turned around, a kunai readied in her hand, and stood perfectly poised. "Alright, who's there?!" She yelled out. "Show yourself!"

Nothing happened. She couldn't see anything in front of her, despite the glow of the street lamps.

Without warning, a shuriken flew at Sakura's kunai, knocking it out of her hand. She gasped, as a sound ninja appeared as if from nowehre in front of her. Suddenly, he took out a small bottle and sprayed something into her eyes.

Pain surged through Sakura's eyes, as they stung so badly that she felt as if they were on fire. She squinted her eyes tight and let out a scream as she dropped to her knees, her hands coming up to cover her eyes.

"NOW!" She heard a voice shout from behind her. She knew she couldn't stay where she was on the ground. She was in danger and had to get out of the situation. She stood up, and attempted to run away, although with a lot of difficulty as she couldn't see. It took every ounce of strength in her body to open her eyes despite the searing pain, and look around for an escape route.

But it was no use. She could only open her eyes for a few seconds at a time. The pain was simply too much to bear. She felt two hands which grabbed around her legs and pulled hard, sending her painfully to the ground, her knees being grazed on the way. Several hands pinned her to the ground.

Sakura was like a wild cat. She thrashed around with her arms and legs, kicking as hard as she could at the invisible ambushers. Still unable to open her eyes, she flailed around harder and harder, finally feeling her foot hit someone.

"OW! You little BITCH!" Said a voice, shortly followed by a hard resounding slap around Sakura's face, making her cry out in pain.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME, PLEASE!" Sakura screamed out, but was soon silenced as a gag was put in her mouth, her screams dwindling down to muffled groans. She felt rope being tied around her legs. She tried to kick, and be set free from the ambushers, but around 4 hands were holding her legs down as the rope was wound around them. The rope was tightened in a knot, so tightly, it pinched Sakura's skin, making her whimper in pain through her gag.

She was pushed over to lie on her stomach, her hands being tied in another painful knot behind her back. She then felt a blindfold being tied around her head, which was secured so hard, it felt as if her eyes were being pushed back into her head.

More roped followed. Now completely tied up, Sakura was helpless. She groaned through her gag and wiggled around, trying in vain to do something, anything to set herself free.

"Yosh" The voice said. "Take her away."

Hands, everywhere on Sakura's body lifted her clean off the ground. Around 6 hands were lifting her on her back. In the distance she heard a truck engine. The sound of more footsteps. The sound of the truck door opening.

Suddenly, the hands swung her back and forth, each time counting "1,...2...3!" until finally she was thrown onto a cold hard floor with a thud. She whimpered again in pain as her head smacked against the floor. The floor was vibrating. There was no doubt about it. she was inside the truck.

The truck door slammed with a loud crash. She heard a rumble come from beneath her as the truck slowly started to drive away, taking Sakura into a unknown place.

_Where am I? Who are these people? Where are they taking me? _Sakura panicked in her head, as she lay there tied up in the darkness, helpless to do anything.

_Please Sasuke, help me..._

_-- -- -- --_

Well, I hope you liked it! Stay tuned for chapter two to see what happens next!

PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews are always replied to, and VERY much appreciated! They also give me a lot more inspiration to keep going with the story, so please review!


	2. Realization

Ohio!! (It's still morning for me right now!)

Well, chapter 2 is up! Please enjoy!

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Sakura lay completely tied up on the cold bare floor of the truck, being driven off to an unknown place. She, being blindfolded, couldn't see a thing, nor could she cry out for help because she was gagged. It had already been around an hour since they had started driving. Wherever they were taking her, it sure was a long way away.

The ropes that bound her legs and hands were unbearably tight, digging into her skin. She groaned as she tried to loosen them, hoping for just a little bit of slack to make her journey more comfortable. However, it was no use. The rope might as well have been cemented in place.

She felt the truck roll to a stop. The engine stopped running. She heard voices outside, the slam of car doors, footsteps. Finally, the door of the truck opened, revealing Sakura lying curled up on the floor to the sound ninja.

"Go." Said a monotonous voice nearby. Suddenly, 4 hands wrapped around underneath her and lifted her off the floor of the truck, carrying her away somewhere else. Sakura wriggled around in her ropes, and tried to scream through the gag, making a futile attempt to attract somebody's attention.

"Look, You won't be able to escape, love!" A voice said coming from one of the people who was carrying her. God, how she hated when people called her "love" sarcastically like that. It was so patronizing. She lashed out, trying to bring her knees forward to hit him.

He laughed. "It's pointless! You're helpless now, no matter what you do!"

As much as Sakura hated to admit it, she knew he was right. She had no choice but to just let them take her wherever they were taking her.

After a few minutes of being carried, she was taken inside a small house. The sound ninja carried her to a dingy cell, where outside the cell they untied all the ropes that bound her, unfastened her blindfold, and took off her gag. Sakura was still unable to see, the blindfold having pressed on her eyes for so long.

She stood up, swaying on her feet, trying to gain balance, only to be kicked backwards into the cell square in the stomach. The kick she had just taken had the force of a thousand charging bulls, and had severely winded her. Sakura coughed and spluttered, feeling herself unable to breathe, and dropped to her knees. The sound ninja closed the cell door behind her and locked it with a key that was dangling around one of their necks.

Although Sakura's vision was blurred, she could still make out the faint outline of the people before her.

"W-Who are you? What do you want?!" She demanded, clutching her arms around her injured stomach.

One of them laughed. "Heh, Oh nothing, we're just using you as bait, you see."

"Bait?!"

"Well, we know that your little boy toy has the Haruno Crystal." One of them snickered. "And little did you know that we were watching you at the park with him just a few hours ago, and we _definitely_ saw it around his neck."

"Anyway, you put on quite a show for us there" Another sound ninja piped up. "I certainly wouldn't have minded being Sasuke in that instance!" The rest of them chuckled nastily.

Sakura glared at them through the bars of her cell. "You perverts..." She whispered. "You don't know who you're playing with! Sasuke will NEVER give the crystal over to the likes of you!"

"Oh? I think you'll find he will when we put a kunai or two up to your neck!" More evil cackles followed.

"Ja!" One of them said. "Let's leave her alone now. We've fulfilled our mission for today, and it's late. We should all get some sleep"

The group walked off, closing the door behind them and talking amongst themselves. Sakura was left alone in the dark, dank cell. She eyed her surroundings. In the corner was an old spring bed with a mattress that was about as thick as a slice of bread, and in the opposite corner, a battered tin bucket.

A sudden burst of pain came from her stomach again from where she had been winded. She winced and rubbed her stomach, hoping to ease the pain just a little bit, coming over to sit on the bed.

* * *

The weekend passed, and it was now Monday again. Sasuke waited outside the Ninja Acdemy, scanning the area for any signs of Sakura. He had now grown extremely worried. Sakura had not called him or got in contact the entire weekend. She normally atleast left him a message explaining why she couldn't hang out.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura's parents. Sakura's mother had been crying, holding a tissue in her hand, her eyes red and puffy. Sakura's father had his hand around her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

They walked up to him. "Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's mother said quietly. "Umm, I know you are Sakura's boyfriend, so, well have you seen her at all over the weekend? Was she staying at your house?"

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. So she hadn't gone home that friday night. What had happened to her? Sakura was a responsible girl, and always went home, especially when it was dark.

"N-No" He stuttered. "I haven't seen her at all! I thought she had gone back home..."

Another stream of tears flowed down Sakura's mother's face. "We've asked everyone else. Nobody has seen her!"

"This is bad..." Sasuke breathed. "We should report this to Tsunade-sama"

The three of them made their way to Tsunade to report the problem, Sasuke taking some time off his day at the Ninja Academy, as this was an important matter.

Upon explaining to Tsunade and Shizune, they understood the problem immediately.

"I think we actually have video footage of that time" Shizune said. "Everywhere in Konoha is videotaped at night to prevent crime." With that, Shizune sorted through a shelf full of videos that were sorted by date. "Here we go, Friday night...8 P.M to 6 A.M..." She said as she put the video tape in the player.

The screen flashed into life. On the television Sasuke saw Sakura walking. He saw her take out a kunai, looking around her nervously. Then, Sakura was tied up and slapped around the face, the entire time Sakura's arms and legs visibly flailing around. Sasuke gasped and put his hand over his mouth as he saw Sakura be lifted into the truck, and driven away. Sakura's parents whimpered as they watched

So it was true. Sakura had been kidnapped!

Sakura's mother burst into tears again. "NO! Sakura! Why? Why would they do this? What are they going to do to her"

Tsunade shook her head. "They are probably not going to do anything to her, but more likely use her as bait."

"Bait?" Sakura's father interjected. "Why bait? Bait for what?"

"That." Tsunade said, pointing directly at Sasuke's chest, where hung the Haruno Crystal around his neck. "The Haruno Crystal is one of the most valuable treasures there is in Konoha, and worth a huge amount of money. Orochimaru has been trying to get his hands on it for quite some time now. Sasuke-They are probably waiting for you to pursue them to get Sakura back, and when you do they will probably try and take it from you, and probably try to kill you too, I don't know..."

_Jeez, she talks of it so lightly..._ Sasuke thought in his head.

"How..." Sasuke began "I don't know where she is?! How am I supposed to get to her?"

"You're not." Tsunade said blankly. "When they want you to come, they will probably send some kind of message over to you."

"So basically all I can do is wait?" Sasuke said, his fists clenching.

"Fraid so." Tsunade said. "Unless you want to go out and try to find them and most likely get caught in one of their genjutsus, then go ahead, be my guest."

_Kusssoooo,_ Sasuke cursed. This was torture enough for him already, just knowing that Sakura had been captured and was scared and alone.

He made himself a promise. He would get Sakura and the Haruno Crystal back to Konoha safely, even if it costed him his life.

Back in the cell, Sakura lat curled up on the bed, all alone, facing the wall. It was extremely cold down there, and the threadbare blanket that they had provided her was barely enough to sufficiently warm her.

It had already been two days. What in the world were they planning to do? Tears sprung to her eyes as she thought of her fate. What if she never returned to Konoha? What if Sasuke came along and got killed? What if nobody came for her at all? All the possibilities ran through her head making her more and more nervous. She had already tried to escape nearly 100 times, testing ever nook and cranny in the cell, but it was useless. The cell was 100 percent escape-proof.

The sound of the creaking of the door brought her out of her daydream and back to reality. It was Kabuto, who worked by Orochimaru's side nearly all day, even gaurding the house at night. Sakura hated to admit it, but she was extremely scared of him.

_Don't let him intimidate you...Just be cool...Don't give him the satisfaction of knowing you're scared..._

Kabuto took a key out of his pocket and opened the door of her cell, where Sakura was stilll lying curled up on the bed, facing away from him.

He sat down on the corner of Sakura's bed, holding a bowl of Ramen for her. He jabbed her in the side gently. "Here. Dinner." He said.

Sakura didn't move. Kabuto poked her again. "You have to eat. Here, It's your dinner."

Without thinking, Sakura suddenly sat bolt upright on the bed, took the bowl, and threw it against the wall of the cell with all her might. Sticky brown noodles and soup slowly slid down the cold brick wall, the bowl smashing to a thousand pieces and coming to clatter down to the floor. Sakura sat there and scowled at Kabuto, her eyese narrowed, staring at him with hate.

Kabuto sighed and pushed his glasses further up his nose. "You shouldn't have done that." He said and got up to leave.

Sakura didn't care. She only had to feel hungry for a few more hours before she got fed again.

A few minutes later, 4 other sound ninja came in, along with Orochimaru himself.

Sakura sat up upon seeing them, this time not bothering to hide her fear. She had already seen Orochimaru fight against Sasuke and knew his extreme strength. Sakura was terrified, she shrunk up against the wall, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Orochimaru..." She whispered.

Orochimaru cackled. "What a shame..." He tutted. "Such a pretty girl. Unfortunately for you, Sakura, we need something from you." He opened her cell and stepped toward her. "What are you wearing?"

A look of confusion spread across Sakura's face. "Skirt, T-shirt, Cardigan...What's it to you?"

There was a pause. "Give us your T-shirt." He said after a while.

"What? No way!"

"Give it to us, Sakura otherwise things won't turn out very good for you." He said, looking over to the side. At that moment a bulky sound ninja stepped forward cracking his knuckles. He was three times the size of her. Sakura had no choice.

Sakura scoffed and took off her cardigan, then pulling off her T-shirt, revealing her in just her bra. Everybody stared. They didn't even try to make it seem as if they weren't staring. Glaring at them all, she put her cardigan back on, throwing her T-shirt at Orochimaru.

_Stop looking so scared, girl! Stand up foor yourself! Don't give them the satisfaction and shrink away from them like that!_ These thoughts went through Sakura's head.

"Y-You're disgusting." She started to say "All of you. You think you can get your way by force, and kidnap, and crime, but your plan will never succeed. Wretched beings like you don't even deserve to live! All of you should just go and drown in..."

"SHUT UP!" Orochimaru interrupted her, now enraged. He stepped forward, and grabbed Sakura's wrist. Taking out a kunai, he sliced all the way down Sakura's index finger. Sakura gasped as tears sprung to her eyes. Orochimaru then took Sakura's T-shirt, and soaked up some of the blood with it, making sure that the T-shirt was visibly stained.

He threw the blood stained T-shirt to another sound ninja, and then turned back to look at Sakura. "How dare you disrespect us like that? You have no right to talk to us like that!" He yelled, so loudly it hurt Sakura's ears.

With that, he brought back his fist and punched Sakura around the jaw so hard, she was knocked off balance, her head hitting the wall abruptly behind her. She fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Yosh, make sure that T-shirt gets to Sasuke." He said, panting slightly as he locked the cell door, and exited the room.

Sakura lay there on her back, completely knocked out, her head turned to the side and her eyes closed, her mouth a little open.

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Phew! That took longer than expected, but it's all done now!

Wow! 2 chapters in 2 days! You should all feel extremely honored, or happy, or whatever you want to feel lol.

Please review! I find it annoying when people only add me to story alerts or favorites and then don't review. Reviews give me more motivation to keep going with the story than you guys could imagine! So, again please review! Thanks so much guys! You all rule! Here, have a cookie! 3


	3. I'm coming for you, Sakura

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Hello everyone!

A big thankyou to all of you people who added me to story alerts/favorites or reviewed! Thankyou SO MUCH! You're the best.

As a reward, I've decided to give you chapter three right in the middle of finals week! How generous am I? hahah Just kidding

Anyway, please enjoy!

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Sasuke, after a long day at the Ninja academy, was extremely tired, and could hardly walk his way home. At the academy, he had hardly been concentrating at all, thus getting a lot of yelling from Kakashi. But how could he possibly concentrate when he was still waiting to hear from the people who kidnapped his girlfriend?

He wondered what she was doing right now. If she was scared, or frightened. He still couldn't believe it. Sakura was one of the best Kunoichi in the whole academy. He clenched his fists as he thought of the person (although he didn't know who it was) who had kidnapped Sakura, _his_ Sakura.

He sighed as he walked up the 3 stairs to the front of his house, taking out his keys from his back and putting them in the lock.

_THWACK_

Suddenly, something hard hit Sasuke square in the back of his head. He turned round quick as a flash, his eyes narrowed in fury, trying to spy out the person who had just thrown something at him. All he saw was a black flash, streaking by, so fast that Sasuke couldn't make out any of the features or who it was. All he could see was that he or she was clad in black.

He looked down to see what had hit him. It was a brown cardboard box with a piece of string tied around it. It had no address, nor return address, nor a stamp or any writing. It was just a plain, small cardboard box. He frowned in curiosity at it, as he turned his key in the lock, and swung his front door open.

Dumping his bag onto the floor, he carried the box into the kitchen and set it down on the table. Taking out a kunai, he sliced straight through the string and tape that bound the box shut, then opening the seal. All he could see so far was a piece of blue material. Taking out the blue material and holding it out infront of him, he gasped in shock, his eyes widening to twice their original size.

It was Sakura's T-shirt. The same one she had been wearing the last time he had seen her! But that wasn't the most shocking thing. Right in the middle of the T-shirt was a large brown patch of Sakura's dried blood. It was splayed in a sort of squashed circle shape in the middle, then little splodges of it reaching out towards the edges of the shirt.

Tears sprung to Sasuke's eyes. "Sakura..." He whimpered, "What have they done to you?..." He dropped the shirt on the table, unable to take the sight of it up close any more. Suddenly, something caught his eye. There was something else in the box.

It was a piece of white paper. Hurriedly, wiping the tears out of his eyes, he picked it up and scrutinized the page before him. It was a note, obviously from Sakura's Kidnappers, written by using different letters from magazines an newspapers all spread across the page in a messy scrawl.

The note read this:

_Sasuke,_

_Yes, we have Sakura. Do exactly as we tell you and we won't kill her. Maybe._

_In order to show you we are serious, we have already taken the liberty of staining her T-shirt with her own blood. Go ahead, get it DNA tested if you don't believe us. _

_If you want any chance of seeing Sakura again, then come by the entrance gates to Konoha at 6 tonight, SHARP._

_Do not involve the Hokage in this. Do not involve other ninja in this. Bring the Haruno crystal, and don't try anything funny. _

_If you don't do exactly as we say, we'll kill you along with the kunoichi brat._

_Good luck to you. We'll be meeting soon._

Sasuke clenched his fist, crumpling up the paper that was in his hand.

This was his chance. He was finally going to get Sakura back. Not only was he prepared, but he had a plan.

As Tsunade had explained to him the other day, the people kidnapping Sakura on the video tape were sound ninja. Therefore Orochimaru was probably the one behind all this.

Orochimaru was more powerful than probably any ninja in Konoha, and Sasuke knew all too well that if he contacted other ninja or involved any one else, he would kill Sakura without thinking twice about it. He would bring the Haruno Crystal, but instead he had enclosed it inside a small, square kind of locket that hung around his neck.

This was not just any locket. It was desgined by him, and sealed with his chakra so that only he could open it with a special technique he had developed. No other ninja would be able to open it without him using his technique. This way, he could still take the Haruno Crystal, but also have it disguised and safe. Sasuke certainly wasn't an idiot, and he had thought this one through long and hard.

It was already 5 p.m. He would have to leave within half an hour if he wanted to get there on time.

Now, it was just a game of waiting.

* * *

Sakura lay on the bed, curled up facing the wall. Her head was aching like she had never felt it ache before. Boy, Orochimaru had really poured his heart and soul into that one punch. Sakura had been unconscious for a full hour. And her finger was still sore as blazes from when he slit it to stain her T-shirt with blood. It was an extremely deep cut, that opened back up again whenever she bent her finger.

Now, it was two days later after she had been knocked out, and nobody had come to her cell to feed her, not even once. Every morning, she would awake with a bowl of water in her cell, but no food.

Sakura had never felt hunger like this before. Her stomach ached from the emptiness, making gurgles and squeaks and protesting about the sudden starvation.

_They wouldn't starve me..._ thought Sakura inside her head, _They need me. The still haven't got the Haruno Crystal, they wouldn't dare starve me..._

These words to her were reassuring, but there was always that voice in the back of her head that was telling her she would starve, and that they wouldn't bring her any food.

Her stomach ached further, and she wrapped her arms around her mid-section, rubbing her stomach, trying to ease the pain, even if just a little. She frowned as she closed her eyes and breathed outward heavily.

Suddenly, she heard the reassuring squeak of hinges coming from the door that let into the dungeons. She quickly turned around and sat up.

Coming over toward her cell, she saw two sound ninja. To her utter delight, one of them was carrying a bowl.

_Yes! They're finally going to feed me! I knew they wouldn't starve me! Sweet food HERE I COME!!_

Sakura knew that if she was going to have any hopes of getting any food she would need to obey their every order and command. No funny stuff, no sarcasm, just complete politeness and do whatever they said.

The sound Ninja carried the bowl over to her cell and opened the bar door with the key with his free hand. He stepped inside, the other sound ninja waiting for him outside the cell.

Sakura looked eagerly up, her eyes resting on the bowl he held in his hands. She could feel her mouth begin to water. She swallowed hard, her eyes large and pleading.

The ninja laughed. "Well well well now, it looks like you're quite hungry! Orochimaru-sama said you would be..."

Sakura didn't know what to say, so simply nodded in place of answer.

"But, I don't know. You see, Kabuto told me that last time he fed you, you didn't like it! Infact he told me that you threw the bowl against the wall. If you don't like it, then I don't think you should eat it, do you?"

Sakura shook her head vigorously and stood up.

"G-Gomen nasai! I was simply angry then. I do like your food, and I will happily accept it this time. Please...I'm so hungry..." She said, nearly begging the man, her hands clasped tightly infront of her.

There was a pause. The sound ninja put the bowl on the floor. "Alright, I'll give it to you as I think it's important that you eat, but I want something in return..." he said slowly.

Sakura nodded. "Anything, I'll do anything..."

"I want you." He said looking up at her with a mischievous smile.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. She slowly started shaking her head and taking a few steps back. "No..." she whispered.

The sound ninja walked toward her. "It would be in your best interest. Don't you want to get fed?..."

Sakura started tearing up in fear. She eyed the opened cell door behind him. Without thinking, she made a break for it, suddenly sprinting toward the door as fast as she could.

Before she could even reach near it, the ninja grabbed her both her wrists. Sakura kicked and struggled but it was no use, his grip was the strongest she'd ever felt in her life. She lashed out again, this time her foot hitting him hard in the shin.

"OW! Oh, are you gonna get it now..." He growled, tightening his grip on her wrists making Sakura whimper in pain, a few tears running down her face. Suddenly, Sakura was lifted clean off the floor and thrown onto the bed, landing painfully in the corner. He came over to her, kneeling over her on the bed, and started undoing the buttons on her cardigan.

"Please, NO!...Please stop, anything but this, PLEASE!" Sakura said, pushing at his hands and trying to stop him. She was answered by a slap around the face, so hard it forced her face to be pushed to the side.

"SHUT UP!" Yelled the sound ninja into her face, now pulling her cardigan off of her slight frame. He forced his lips onto hers, one hand coming down to massage her breasts, the other slowly sliding up her skirt.

Sakura squirmed in disgust, she tried to push against his shoulders but it was no use. She was completely pinned down by him. The man rubbed his hand up and down her inner thigh, moaning seductively into the forced kiss, Sakura powerless to do anything.

"Hey, hey that's ENOUGH!" The other sound ninja said. Sakura had completely forgotten that he was there. He was still standing outside the cell, watching the two of them struggle.

The sound ninja got up off Sakura. "What?" He demanded, anger spreading rapidly over his face.

"Come on..." The other one said slowly, giving a sympathetic look back at Sakura, who was lying there on the bed, panting slightly, in just her bra and skirt. A red patch was already developing across her cheek where she had been hit. "She's suffered enough, and she's hungry. We should just let her eat...Besides Orochimaru said not to hurt her..."

The sound ninja looked downward, then back at Sakura, who looked back at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Fine..." He muttered, but as revenge took Sakura's cardigan and ripped it clean in half, and then in half again, throwing it to the floor on the other side of the cell. With that, he stormed out the door, the other ninja following him, the door slamming behind them both.

As soon as the door shut, Sakura rushed over to the bowl on the floor. It was filled with rice and Teryaki Shrimp, and beside it were some chopsticks.

Before doing anything else, she took the chopsticks and completely stuffed her face, so hungry she didn't even bother to eat slowly. She ate every single little grain of rice, making sure not to leave one scrap of food in the bowl.

Never before had food tasted so good. After she had eaten, she sat back on the bed, finally satisfied, and breathing a huge sigh of relief.

She suddenly realized that she was now topless in just her bra. She felt extremely exposed, especially around a bunch of men. God, she could have just killed that ninja for ripping up her cardigan! It was a nice cardigan too...

Well, nothing could be down about it now. All she could do is hope that, for her sake, they gave her another top. Her unexpected hot meal had suddenly made her sleepy as it lay there heavily in her stomach, and so she listened to her body's needs and fell slowly upon the creaky old bed.

A few hours later, Sakura was asleep, her head resting in the crook of her arm, her legs pulled up toward her chest, frowning slightly in her sleep. Her breathing was heavy, a few strands of her pink hair being blown back and forward by her breath.

Another creak from the door hinges woke her up. She opened her eyes slowly, and looked over through the bars at the door. Still sleep-fogged, she sat up slowly in bed.

She recognized the person that had just entered immediately. It was the sound ninja that had convinced the other ninja to leave her alone. Sakura felt a little more safe at this, but she was still apprehensive.

"W-What do you want?" She said slowly.

The man looked back at her with an exhasperated expression. "Ugh, don't worry I'm not going to hurt you, I just thought you would like a T-shirt is all." He said, holding out a plain black, short sleeve T-shirt through the bars. Sakura got up and took it out of his hands, a smile spreading slowly over her face.

"Ariagto..." She murmured, looking back up at him. "B-But why?"

"It's not right for a girl your age to be exposed like that..."He said slowly.

"I-I don't know how to repay you, Thankyou so much!" Sakura began to say.

He smiled. "Just, don't tell anyone it was me, Okay?" He said. He cleared his throat and rushed out the room before Sakura could say anything else.

* * *

In Konoha, Sasuke was running full pelt toward the gate, his arms splayed behind him, his facial expression in a determined frown. The disguised Haruno Crystal hung around his neck, hitting against his chest as he ran. It was now 10 minutes to six, and he would be meeting Sakura's captives in just ten minutes.

_Sakura, I'm coming for you..._ He thought, as if trying to send telepathic messages over to her.

-- -- -- --

This one also took longer than expected, especially with studying for finals going on, but no worries!

I have a question for you guys though. What do you think of the chapters lengths? Are they too long, too short, or just right? Please give me your feedback on this!

I finally learnt how to use those "horizontal rulers" in my fics! yay! They make my writing a lot more systematic and easier to understand so i'm happy. I'm so stupid, it was right under my nose the entire time.

Anyway, Thanks SOOOOO much for reading guys, and please please PRETTY please with cream and sugar ontop, REVIEW?! As i said, I always reply to reviews, and they are soo incredibly encouraging, so thankyou so much to all you guys who reviewed so far!

Holy crap I'm tired...


	4. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Author's Note:**

Hello Everybody!

I am sorry to tell you all that this story will be on Hiatus for this next week due to me studying for my school finals, AND me moving to my new apartment at the SAME TIME! As you can tell, this puts a lot of stress on me. Why my cruel parents decided to move right in the middle of finals, I will never know.

Anyway, yup that's right, I made a schedule of studying for myself and it leaves absolutely NO time for writing stories! I have to do well in my finals, because if I get above 90 in everything, then my parents are going to buy me (drumroll) KINGDOM HEARTS! You guys have no idea what a burning passion I have to play that game...Yep call me a nerd hahaha

This upcoming weekend I am going on my friend's pool party/sleepover to celebrate the end of finals and school, so I won't be able to update then either...

The earliest I can estimate I will try and start writing the next chapter is next Monday when everything is gone and out of the way. (ahh, so close yet so far..)

Anyway, please don't hate me!! Pretty please? To make up for this, I made you all a batch of my special virtual cookies like I have many times before! This time, I made an assortment of flavors, so there are bound to be some that you like! They're warm and gooey, and fresh out the oven! Does that help? Hmmm, guess not... Ah well, If you don't like them, then all the more for me! (does pitiful attempt at evil laugh)

Anyway, sorry again about this, and I will try get things running as soon as I can on Monday!

Thanks so much to everyone who is reading/reviewing/adding me to story alerts/favorites, etc. etc. And you all get extra cookies! haha

So, I'll shut up about the cookies then, hahaha

Thanks so much!

-Kath


	5. I won't tell you anything

(sings song) SCHOOOOOLS OUT, FOR, SUMMER!! SCHOOOOOOOLLS OUT, FOR, EVER!!

Haha, yep thats right! School is out as of today as I'm writing this (6/10/08) and I finally have free time to write!

So anyway, thankyou all for being so patient, and sorry this story was on hiatus a little longer than expected!

Enjoy!

-- -- -- --

Sasuke stood just by the Konoha gates at the time that he had been instructed, looking around suspiciously for any sound ninja.

He didn't like to admit it, but he was nervous. This was his one chance to get Sakura back, and no mistakes could be afforded. He knew the sheer power of Orochimaru and knew that if he so much as blinked the wrong way, Sakura would be dead without hesitation. He had to be extra careful.

Around his neck hung the Haruno Crystal, but concealed however in the square locket he had made that only he could open with his chakra. This way, they wouldn't be able to take the Crystal from him.

From the bushes nearby, 4 sound ninja were watching.

"This the guy?" One of them asked.

"Yup, that's him. But he's not wearing the Haruno Crystal like we told him to. You know what that means, right?"

"That we switch to plan B."

"Yup, Got it."

"Alright. Everyone get into your positions..."

The ninja stood poised, ready for their attack on Sasuke. Suddenly, the first ninja charged out full pelt toward Sasuke, and kunai in his hand.

Sasuke, being a highly skilled shinobi had already sensed his presence charging toward him. As a result, quick as a flash, he had pulled out a shuriken and thrown it in his direction.

The shuriken hit the ninja full on in the chest, making him gasp out in pain is he was sent to the floor. Sasuke then readied a kunai and waited the attack of the others.

All three of them ran out toward him, holding different weapons. One of the ninja even had a puppet that was controlled by chakra strings. Sasuke, with a smirk on his face, dodged a speeding kunai, and landed in a crouch position. Another ninja threw a shuriken at him, which he deflected with his kunai.

At the same time, a flying kick hit sasuke full on in the chest sending him flying backwards. He stood up quickly, coughing lightly from the kick, and quickly dodging a punch, then turning to attack back with a roundhouse kick.

_This is bad.._ He thought, _I can't keep dodging their attacks forever...Why are they attacking me anyway?!_

Sasuke dodged needles that were shot out of the puppets mouth, and ran to the side. Suddenly, the puppet shot out a kunai from its arm, which hit Sasuke directly in his leg.

"AAGGHHH..." Sasuke yelled in pain as it hit him. He reached down, and with a grunt wrenched the kunai out of his leg, blood slowly starting to trickle down his shin.

The sound ninja infront of him stopped. They stood infront of him in a line, smirking at him. Sasuke frowned in confusion. What was going on?

A strange feeling started in his leg. A feeling of numbness. It tingled and was now radiating throughout his whole leg. His knee buckled in, Sasuke resting his hand on his thigh to try and keep himself standing. But it was no use. He could now not even feel his entire right leg and had no control over it. He succumbed to the feeling, and dropped to his knees.

Shortly after this, it was nothing but pain. Pain was surging throughout his leg, stinging like nothing he had ever felt before. It felt almost as if someone was peircing his skin with red hot knives. Sasuke moaned in pain.

"What the hell is this?!" demanded Sasuke. He looked down at his wound. That was then he realized.

"The kunai...It's poisoned!" yelled Sasuke, grunting at the pain in his leg.

One of the sound ninja chuckled. "Heh, so you finally realized! Yes, right now it's only in your leg but don't worry, it will spread to the rest of your body."

Before Sasuke could answer, one of them hand lunged forward and stuck a syringe into his neck, injecting a small amount of clear liquid. Sasuke, being partially paralyzed, could not move.

Sasuke punched at the ninja, but he jumped back before he could do anything. A funny feeling came over his entire body. He began to feel sleepy and tired. His whole body felt extremely heavy. His eyes slowly closed half-way, and he swayed on his knees a little, trying in vain to gain consciousness.

"teme..." He muttered under his breath before he fell backwards to lie on the ground, his eyes closed, his arms splayed out to the side.

Sasuke was now knocked out from the drug they had given him. One of the sound ninja stepped forward and poked his side with a stick. Sasuke did not stir.

"Ikuzo" he said as he turned to the others. He then picked the unconscious Sasuke up and flung him over his shoulder, as if he were an old coat or sweater. With that, they retreated back to the hide-out.

* * *

Sakura lay in her cell on her side, facing the wall. Although nothing bad had happened to her recently, it was just the pure boredom she couldn't take. There was absolutely nothing to do but sit there, and it was driving her crazy.

She sighed and shifted position. _It'll all be over soon..._She thought to herself, _Just ride it out..._

A sudden creak from the door brought her back to her senses. A sound ninja walked through the door to stand infront of Sakura's cell.

Sakura was scared at first, but then with a sigh of relief realized it was the same ninja that had helped her before. Still, she was a little apprehensive.

"What's wrong? Why are you here..?" Sakura asked slowly.

The ninja sat down on the floor by her cell, and looked across at her through the bars. "Just thought you'd like some company...But ssshhh, I'm not supposed to be here, so keep it down!"

" Wakarimashita" Sakura whispered. They both sat there for a few awkward moments until Sakura broke the silence. "Ne, Why are you being so nice to me? I mean, won't you get in trouble?"

The ninja looked down at his lap. "Two years ago, my daughter was captured by Orochimaru. She spent many weeks in this same cell just like you did...She was then killed by Orochimaru..."

Sakura's eyes glistened. "Th-then why are you here? Why are you working for Orochimaru?!"

The ninja smiled sadly. "After her death I was in grief, as you'd expect and sought revenge. I tried to attack them, but of course they got the better of me. After seeing my fighting style they thought I would be useuful in their team, and forced me to join."

"How could they force you...?"

"They told me if I didn't join, they'd kill me AND my wife...I had already lost one family member, and I wasn't going to lose my wife after, so for her, I agreed. I just couldn't lose her. I sent her a false letter and she thinks I'm out on a different mission...I hate lying to her, but I have to do it! For her safety!"

Tears were forming in the ninja's eyes. "Gomen..." He said quietly "I'm not the one who should be getting all emotional...I haven't seen her in two years, and I miss her desperately..."

Sakura shook her head slowly. "Not at all..." She said. "But, if this happened to you, then surely you must know how I feel! Please, release me! You have no..."

"I can't..." The ninja interrupted her. "If they catch us trying to escape they'll kill us both"

Sakura looked down toward the floor.

"But Listen, I will try and help you in any way that I can that won't hurt either of us. That's a promise." He smiled.

Sakura looked up with a look of extreme gratitude. "Arigato!"

The ninja stood up and bowed, then turned to leave the room.

"Hey, what's your name?" Sakura called after him.

"Idate" He said, turning around to smile at her once more before he opened the door and exited.

Sakura smiled to herself. At least there was one person being kind to her.

* * *

What seemed like a couple of hours later, Sasuke awoke. He wasn't lying down though. He could feel himself sitting in a chair.

He opened his eyes slowly. His entire body had a very peculiar feeling to it, somewhat numb and extremely tired. He then realized that he was panting even though he wasn't doing anything but sitting.

_Kussoo..._ he thought, _The poison must already be taking effect on me..._

Sasuke could not move. He had been tied to the chair with rope. He wriggled around in his seat, but it was no use, it would not give even the slightest bit of slack.

His vision was blurry. With a slight moan, he shuffled in his seat and looked up to see Orochimaru himself standing over him. Next to him was Kabuto smirking down at him.

"Sasuke..." Orochimaru began, "Didn't we give you _specific_ instructions to bring the Haruno Crystal?"

Sasuke merely scowled up at him and didn't answer.

"So, where is it then?" He demanded straight up.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke glared up at him. "I'll never tell you bastards anything..." He growled.

Orochimaru then grabbed him by his collar and slapped him around the face, hard. "TELL US WHERE IT IS, DAMNIT! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!" He yelled into his face, his breath tickling against Sasuke's skin.

"Never..." Sasuke panted. The poison was definitely taking it's toll on him. He felt so tired, but knew he had to stay alert.

Orochimaru dropped Sasuke roughly and stood back. "That poison, running through your blood right now...It doesn't feel very good, does it?"

Kabuto chuckled. "That poison will kill you within 24 hours. We have an antidote for it. Tell us where the Haurno Crystal is, and we may JUST spare your life."

"Are you deaf?!" Sasuke retorted back, "I _said _I wouldn't tell you anything!"

Kabuto sighed and casually took out a bunch on needles. He threw one at Sasuke, hitting him in the shoulder.

"Ugghh!" Sasuke yelled out in pain. Kabuto readied another one. "Tell us, or you won't be in a very good position, Sasuke..."

Kabuto threw another needle at Sasuke, this time hitting him in the arm. Sasuke grimaced in pain, squinting his eyes and gritting his teeth.

"You can do whatever you want to me..." Sasuke began, "I'll never tell you anything, you piece of shit!" He yelled.

Orochimaru gave a sideways look at Kabuto. "Alright, it's not going to work this way..." He said.

There was a pause before he broke the silence. "BRING HER IN!" He yelled towards the door behind him.

The doors flew open. Through the door came a sound ninja, dragging Sakura across the rough, cement floor. Sakura had her hands tied behind her back, and was moaning slightly as she was dragged painfully across the ground. She had tears in her eyes, and a look of terror spread across her face.

Orochimaru grabbed Sakura by her hair, and pushed her down to be kneeling just infront of him.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" Sakura whispered. Sasuke stared back in horror at her already bruised and cut face, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Orochimaru then took out a kunai and put it against her neck, causing Sakura to whimper in fear.

"Right." He said. "Enough fooling around. Tell us now, or she dies."

-- -- -- --

OOOOHH suspense, suspense! What will happen to Sakura? Will sasuke give in to them?! haha, find out only in the next chappie!

PLEASE REVIEW! THANKYOU!


	6. Sakura's death

Hey guys, sorry for the long update time!

Umm, just to let you all know, there is a little more violence/blood in this chapter, and also more harsh language, so if you don't like that, then just skip through all those parts!

Enjoy!

-- -- -- --

"Right. Enough fooling around. Tell us now, or she dies." Orochimaru hissed at Sasuke, holding the kunai up against Sakura's neck.

Sakura was crying in fear, being held kneeling on the ground by her hair by orochimaru, her hands tied behind her back, powerless to do anything.

Sasuke was still tied up to the chair, panting like a dog. The poison was now penetrating his entire body, and causing him to breathe extremely heavily, ontop of feeling unbelievably fatigued.

"S-Sasuke-kun...D-Don't tell them anythi...UGHH!" Sakura was silenced by a resounding slap across her face from kabuto.

Sasuke became enraged at this. He started pulling against the ropes that bound him to the chair like a madman, glaring angrily up at Orochimaru and Kabuto.

"You, you sick, twisted fucks!" He yelled, "LET SAKURA GO! You're not going to get the crystal no matter what you do! I will NEVER..."

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke was interrupted by Orochimaru "Do you WANT HER TO DIE?!"

With that, he pressed the kunai harder against Sakura's neck, Sakura letting out a terrified sob as he did so. Her neck was now bleeding, a small trickle of bright red blood dribbling down her creamy skin.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!" Sasuke screamed, struggling against his ropes harder. "If you kill her, you will almost surely be killed by me! GET OFF OF HER!"

Orochimaru ignored him. "All you have to do is tell us, and we can spare BOTH your lives! Isn't that what you want? If you don't tell us, BOTH of you will die!"

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" Sasuke screamed, "You'll never let both of us live anyway, you know why? 'Cos that's the type of cruel, sick people you are! But you know what, you'll never get the Haruno Crystal either, because I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU!"

Orochimaru sighed and looked down at Sakura, who had her eyes tightly shut. "I'm going to give you five seconds, Sasuke...If you haven't told us by then, Sakura is dead."

"You wouldn't kill her, you NEED her.."

"Five..."

"STOP IT!"

"Four..."

"LET SAKURA GO, RIGHT NOW!"

Meanwhile, Sakura sobbed in fear.

"Three..."

"You wouldn't dare! I'll kill you when,"

"Two..."

"Get your filthy hands OFF OF HER!"

"One." Orochimaru sighed again. "I didn't want to have to do this, but you chose it to be this way."

Without any warning, Orochimaru pressed the kunai even harder against Sakura's neck, and dragged it across from the left to the right of her neck, slitting her throat.

Sakura's entire body turned crimson from the blood that seemed to explode from her throat and wash over her like a waterfall. She fell forward on her face, now lying motionless in an ever growing pool of blood.

Sasuke's jaw dropped. His eyes widened to twice their size. He looked down at Sakura, his Sakura, who was now lying dead on the ground just before him. He tried to say something but no words came out. A stream of tears automatically sprung out of his eyes. From where Orochimaru and Kabuto were standing, they could see that he was shaking slightly, but not from the cold.

Orochimaru looked at Kabuto and nodded. Kabuto cut the ropes that bound Sasuke to the chair with a kunai, and then grabbing his arm, dragged him away.

Sasuke went mad. He thrashed about, and yelled at the top of voice as he was dragged out of the room.

"YOU BASTARDS! YOU'VE DONE IT NOW! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY, OROCHIMARU, I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Sasuke continued yelling like this, kicking his legs and thrashing around. He tried to slip out of Kabuto's grasp, but the poison had made him too weak. He had no choice but to let himself be dragged away.

Coming up to the door of the dungeons, Kabuto simply picked Sasuke up and threw him on the floor in front of him, Sasuke landing painfully on his side.

"IDATE!" Kabuto shouted. "We have a new prisoner. Make sure he's in a seperate cell!"

Sasuke lay on the ground, panting, his eyes half closed. He had used up his last bit of energy from yelling and thrashing around, and now could not even move.

"Well..." Kabuto said "That poison has been in your blood for around 8 hours now, I'd say. Only another 16 until it takes full effect. I guess we can leave you to die here then." Kabuto then walked out the door, closing it behind him.

* * *

Back in the other room, Sakura lay dead on the floor. Orochimaru stared down at her. Putting his hands together, he formed a seal.

"KAI!"

As soon as the word escaped his mouth, there was a poof of smoke infront of him, and Sakura had turned into a young man with brown hair.

He tutted to himself as Kabuto walked in.

"Who is this one then?" Kabuto asked casually.

"Oh, just another one of our prisoners that I was going to experiment on. I told him he'd live if he did as I said, but hey, I guess things change."

There was a pause.

"So how are we going to get the crystal then?"

"I don't know. I can't be bothered to think up anything right now. But we still need Sakura, that's for sure." Orochimaru turned around. "Kabuto, dispose of the body"

"Hai."

* * *

Back inside her cell, Sakura sat watching Idate through the bars. He had come down again, and they were just talking. Throughout her stay, Idate had been her one and only friend, who came down nearly every day just to keep her company. During his time down there, Sakura had told him the whole story about the Haruno crystal, and Sasuke.

"Idate...Why are you being so kind to me? I'm alright down here, you don't have to do this!"

Idate shook his head. "After my daughter was forced to go through the same thing as you, I could never just let it happen that brutally again. And also, you remind me of her."

Sakura smiled. She was so happy that Idate came down every day. She didn't know what she would have done without him.

"IDATE! We have a new prisoner, make sure he's in a seperate cell!", a voice yelled from outside the door.

Idate sighed and stood up. "I can use the one opposite you" He said. "Maybe he can keep you company!"

Idate walked over and opened the door to the dungeons. There infront of him, he saw Sasuke lying in a crumpled heap, his eyes closed, and panting heavily.

Frowning, he picked him up and slung him over his shoulder to carry him into the dungeons.

"Well, I don't know what's wrong with him, but he sure is knocked out" Idate said bringing him in. He stopped when he saw Sakura. "Sakura? What's wrong?"

Sakura's eyes had widened and she had her hand up to her mouth. Her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Th-That's Sasuke! The Sasuke I told you about! W-What in the world have they done to him?!"

Idate laid Sasuke down on the floor next to Sakura's cell where Sakura could reach him. Sasuke's eyes were closed, but he was frowning, almost as if he were in pain. His mouth was a little open, and he was breathing extremely heavy.

Sakura reached through the cell and put her hand on his forehead."He's shaking..." She said slowly. "And he's sweating too! What's wrong with him?"

Idate saw the wound on his leg, which was slightly purple. He gasped. "He's been poisoned..." He said, a tone of uncertainty in his voice, "I've seen wounds like hundreds of times before! Orochimaru uses this poison all the time!"

A few small tears escaped Sakura's eyes and splashed onto her lap.

Suddenly, Sasuke started to wake up. Squinting slightly, he opened his eyes and peered up at the two.

He gasped and attempted to sit up, putting his hand behind him to support him. However, he was too weak to sit up, falling backward again, and landing in Idate's arms who caught him.

"S-Sakura! W-What? Orochimaru killed you! I-I thought you were dead!" He then started to back away. "You're not the real Sakura, you're a clone! Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

Gathering up all his energy that he had left, he stood up, swaying on his feet. His knees buckled and he fell down again, Idate catching him again.

"Sasuke! Don't push it! Your body is weak..." Idate began. Sasuke shook his head. After such an unbelievably realistic clone of Sakura being killed, he couldn't believe she was still alive.

"Idate-Let me out of my cell..." Sakura said slowly.

"Aa..." Taking the key out of his pocket, Idate unlocked her cell door.

Sakura walked out and came to kneel down next to Sasuke, putting one hand on his face. Sasuke backed away even further, shrinking up against the wall.

"Sasuke, please believe me, It's me!" She said caressing his face. Sasuke shook his head gently again, still panting slightly from the effect of the poison.

Sakura looked down. Suddenly she had an idea.

Leaning forward, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips onto his. Sasuke's eyes widened, and he tried to struggle at first, but within 3 seconds he stopped and slowly returned the kiss. Pulling him even closer, Sakura's tongue flicked gently into his mouth, kissing him with all the passion and fire she could to make him remember.

After a few seconds she pulled away and looked deep into his eyes. "Please, believe me Sasuke! It _is_ me!"

"I'd recognize that kiss anywhere..." Sasuke said, smiling up at her. Suddenly he coughed violently, bringing his hand up to his chest.

"Sasuke!" Sakura said worriedly putting an arm around him. "Here, lie down..."

Sasuke did as she told him, laying down on the floor in front of her. Putting one hand over the other on Sasuke's chest, a small green glow begin to emit from Sakura's hands. As Sakura healed his body, Sasuke whimpered, closing his eyes. It was a painful process.

After a few minutes she stopped. "I've healed his circulatory system somewhat for now, but my healing techniques are not equipped to extract poison. It should delay the poison from working for a few hours though."

Looking at the necklace around Sasuke's neck, she frowned. "Sasuke, Where's the Haruno Crystal?"

"Inside the locket.." Sasuke said with difficulty. "It's sealed with my chakra so only I can open it...I thought it would protect it somewhat..."

Smiling down at him, Sakura squeezed his hand. "Arigato..." She said, giving him a light kiss on the forehead.

Looking back at Idate, Sakura became worried again. "We have to get back to Konoha as soon as possible! Sasuke needs a poison extracting operation, not to mention an antidote right away! If we don't, he'll..." Sakura's eyes dropped to the floor.

Idate put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "It'll be okay, trust me! Everything's going to be alright."

"How? What are we going to do?"

Idate smiled. "I've got a plan..."

-- -- -- --

Sorry for the reeaally long update time guys, I had this story half finished for a while and just couldn't for the life of me figure out what would happen next. But now I got it!

XxMiyakaxX and Princess Skyeand'r - You guys are my best, most frequent reviewers! Thankyou!!


	7. The escape

Hi guys!

So yes, Im soooo sorry for the really long update time! We just moved, and I had to help cart a hell of a load of boxes, and help unpack. Not to mention that idiot who calls herself my sister being an absolute ass and just, well, making me feel less like writing. So I'm sorry guys! Hope you can forgive me!

Enjoy!

-- -- -- --

"What? Y-You have a plan?" Sakura said, her eyes wide and staring at Idate.

"Hai...It might just work, but we'll have to do it tonight, that poison is going to act faster than we think..."

"What's the plan?"

"Well first, I don't think we're going to be able to take on Kabuto and Orochimaru together, so we should somehow get Kabuto out of the way first, as he is the weaker one. I have a plan to do this, but Sakura I'm afraid it requires something from you..."

Sakura looked puzzled. "What is it...?" She said, an edge of uncertainty in her voice.

"Well, I'm going to tell Kabuto that you are injured. I'll just say that another sound ninja just hurt you with a kunai...but in order for it to be authentic..."

"Then it has to be real." Sakura said flatly, finishing his sentence.

She took a deep breath, and then held out her arm toward Idate.

"Do it." She said, turning her head away from him and closing her eyes.

"I'll try make this quick..." Idate said, grabbing hold of her wrist and drawing out a kunai. Sakura braced herself.

In one swift sweep, Idate slashed across Sakura's arm with the kunai, making a quick yet significantly deep cut along her arm. Sakura flinched at the pain, biting her lip and squeezing her eyes tighter shut to stop the tears coming out.

Blood started to dribble heavily from Sakura's arm, a few drops of it splashing down onto the floor.

Idate stood up. "There, that looks serious enough for Kabuto to come down and heal it." He said. "I'm sorry Sakura, I hope that didn't hurt too much..."

Sakura sniffed heavily and looked up at him. "For Sasuke, I'd do anything.." She said, her eyes brimming slightly with tears.

Idate smiled and then glanced worriedly back at Sasuke who was conked out on the floor, his head lolled to the side.

"Kuso...The poison is working faster than I thought..." Idate whispered.

He then picked Sasuke up in his arms, and layed him down on the bed in the cell opposite Sakura, locking the bar door behind him.

"I'm sorry Sakura, I'll have to lock both of you in here for now so they don't suspect anything."

Sakura nodded and clutching her arm, walked back into her cell which Idate locked with the key.

"I'll be back as soon as I can with Kabuto. He doesn't know that you could heal yourself if you wanted to, so as soon as he starts healing you, I'll knock him out. That way we could lock him in the cell." He sighed. "I sure hope this works..."

"Thankyou Idate. I'm sure it will." Sakura said looking up at him.

With that Idate smiled and headed out the door, closing it behind him. Sakura was left alone in the cell with Sasuke, who was still fast asleep.

* * *

Outside the cell, Idate ran across the seemingly never-ending maze of corridors and stairwells until he reached Kabuto's room. His palms were sweating, and although he didn't like to admit it, he was extremely nervous. This was perhaps his only way to free himself, let alone Sakura and Sasuke.

Stopping outside Kabuto's door, he brought his fist up and knocked three times. After a few seconds, Kabuto opened the door, coming face to face with him.

"What is it, Idate?" He said frowning, sounding annoyed.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Kabuto-sama, but that prisoner Sakura? She was injured very badly by one of the other sound ninja. She's bleeding heavily and I think she needs to be healed right away or she'll bleed to death."

Kabuto thought for a second. "Which ninja was it?" he asked.

"I don't know. Sakura may know though, although she wouldn't tell me."

There was another pause. Kabuto smiled. "Of course I will." He said. "This won't take long."

Little did Idate know, Kabuto was smiling to himself, not because he was trying to be friendly. He knew Idate was up to something, and now was his chance to find out.

Idate following behind Kabuto, the two walked down to the dungeons, where Kabuto opened the door and walked in.

Inside, Sakura looked up. She saw Kabuto and scowled, clutching her arm tighter. There was now a medium sized pool of blood surrounding Sakura.

_Crap..._ Idate thought, _I didn't mean to make her bleed that much..._

Kabuto tutted as he walked up to her cell. "Oh deary me, that does look painful. Can you tell me who did this to you?"

"I don't know his name..." Sakura said through gritted teeth. "I already told that idiot over there..." Sakura said, shooting a glare over at Idate.

_That's good, She's making it more believable..._Thought Idate.

Kabuto shook his head and unlocked her cell, walking towards her. "Well, I guess Orochimaru doesn't want you to die, so I'll heal you now then."

He knelt down next to Sakura, and grabbed her arm hard on the wound making Sakura wince in pain. Taking his other hand, he placed it over the wound. A small green glow came from his hands, as he healed the wound, the cut gradually getting smaller and smaller.

Meanwhile, Idate crept behind him. Holding a crowbar that had been lying in the cell, he held it in the air, ready to hit Kabuto.

Counting to three mentally in his head, he raised and thrust it down as hard as he could. Kabuto smirked, and simply brought out his other hand, and caught it. turning round to face Idate.

Idate looked shocked. "H-How..." He began

"Oh Idate, don't think I haven't been on to you for weeks now." Kabuto said, wrenching the crowbar out of his hand. He walked towards Idate, at the same time Idate taking steps away from him.

Kabuto smirked. "It was obvious. Who did you think I thought had given Sakura that T-shirt? You were far too careless. And now you're going to pay."

With that, Kabuto struck out his foot and kicked idate full force in the stomach, Idate flying backwards and hitting the wall with a grunt.

"You betraying scum..." Kabuto said, as he took his fist and punched him round the face as hard as he could.

Kabuto raised his fist for another punch, but as he did so there was a loud thud. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped in a silent scream, and he fell forward on his face onto the ground. Standing just behind him was Sakura, her hand still in a fist, a blue glow of chakra coming off of it. What Idate hadn't known was that Sakura had the strength of the hulk, and could knock out anyone easily just by punching them.

She panted heavily, and then groaned in pain, as she fell back down on the floor. Taking her good hand, she began to heal her wound.

"S-Sakura...Arigato..." Idate said. Sakura smiled.

Idate stood up and took Kabuto's ankles in his hands, and began to drag him into Sakura's cell. Once he was in, he locked the doors, and then proceeded to unlock Sasuke's door.

Sakura had finished healing herself, and stood up to walk into Sasuke's cell.

"Sasuke..." She said, giving his arm a little shake. "Sasuke we're getting out of here. Quick, you have to come with us."

Although Sasuke was weak from the poison, he managed to sit up by himself. "Alright...Let's do this.." He said slowly in a hoarse voice.

He stood up, and although he was swaying a little, he could just about walk. If he took up every last piece of his energy, he could walk without any help.

Sakura took Sasuke's hand in hers, giving it a small, loving squeeze. She smiled and pecked him quickly on the cheek.

"Don't worry, we're going to get out of here..." She told him.

Sasuke and Sakura holding hands, Idate leading, the three ran out of the dungeons.

Orochimaru's lair was far bigger than Sasuke and Sakura had ever imagined. It was made up of twisting corridors, and stairways that seemed to wind on forever.

"uggh, How much longer is it..." Sasuke panted, becoming more and more tired.

"Just a little further... You guys can do this, come on!"

Suddenly, Sasuke fell to the ground, his hand slipping out of Sakura's.

"SASUKE" Sakura yelled, coming down by his side.

"S-Sakura..." Sasuke stuttered, his eyes closed. "I'm s-sorr.."

He was interrupted by a violent coughing fit which he had gone into. He pressed his hands down onto the floor, attempting to lift himself up but fell down again with a final cough which splattered blood on the ground infront of him. He lay there motionless.

"He's passed out..." Idate whispered."This is bad."

Sakura said nothing, but simply gritted her teeth, picked Sasuke up and slung him over her shoulder.

"Sakura, are you sure you can carry him..." Idate began, but Sakura had already run off, her feet pounding against the ground.

After a few more minutes of running, the exit was in sight.

"There's the exit! QUICK!" Idate yelled, all three of them sprinting full speed towards it.

Just before they reached it, Orochimaru himself appeared as if out of nowhere. He had a smirk spread across his face.

"Not so fast..." He said slowly.

The three stopped dead.

"Orochimaru..." Sakura whispered, eyeing him with hate. The last time she had seen him he had knocked her out cold, and she detested him with passion.

Orochimaru laughed. "You three actually thought I didn't know you were trying to escape? I've got the entire place bugged!"

Sakura scowled, clutching the unconscious Sasuke closer to her body.

"Oh Sakura, don't ruin that pretty face of yours with that scowl. Girls your age should always be polite..." Orochimaru said. A mili-second later, around four snakes shot out of Orochimaru's right hand, grabbing around Sakura's waist, knocking Sasuke off of her shoulder.

Sakura yelped in pain as the snaked twined around her body, lifting her a few feet of the ground.

"Teme..." Idate snarled, throwing a kunai at him, Orochimaru simply moved Sakura through the air into the path of the kunai, the kunai hitting her straight in the ankle. Sakura screamed out in pain.

"Any attack you strike at me will only go to Sakura" Orochimaru said calmy. "It's pointless!"

At that moment, a snake probably the width of Idate's torso shot out from Orochimaru's right sleeve. Knocking him off his feet, it pushed itself against Idate's stomach, pinning him to the wall. Idate yelled out in pain as he coughed up blood.

Meanwhile still hanging in the air, the four snakes wrapped harder and harder around Sakura, squeezing all the air out of her chest.

"Uhh...!!" Sakura gasped, widening her eyes, panting but with short breaths. "I-I can't breathe..."

_Our only hope now is Sasuke_... Thought Idate who was getting squeezed against the wall harder and harder. Sasuke was still unconscious, unaware that any of this was happening.

"Any last words?" Orochimaru cackled.

All hope was fading. The fourth snake had now coiled around Sakura's neck, strangling her slowly and painfully. She squirmed and writhed until suddenly, everything started going black around the edges. She started to feel warm and dizzy, and recognized it as the feeling of passing out. She was no longer breathing. Slowly she closed her eyes.

"Sakura!" Idate yelled "Stay awake!"

Suddenly, the snakes stopped tightening, Orochimaru stopped cackling. "Nani?" He exclaimed, "I can't move!" The snakes suddenly uncoiled themselves and shot back to Orochimaru. Sakura, who had been suspended in the air, fell to the ground with a thud. She didn't stir.

"Sorry there!" A voice called out from behind him. "These are my friends, so I can't let them die I'm afriad!" Idate looked behind Orochimaru and saw Shikamaru, who had Orochimaru in Kage mane.

Idate picked up Sasuke, and crawled over gasping for breath to pick up Sakura. He struggled and could barely lift both of them himself, but being just outside the exit he managed to at least get them both out in the open.

"QUICK! GET OUT OF HERE GUYS, THIS ISN'T GOING TO LAST FOR MUCH LONGER!" Shikamaru yelled.

"I'll take her" Kakashi said appearing before Idate, taking her off his shoulder. Idate nodded and with that, they jumped up into the trees and made their escape.

Back at the entrance of the lair, Orochimaru had broken out of Kage mane. Spinning around, a snake with a sword sticking out of its mouth shot out hitting Shikamaru head on in the stomach.

_POOF_

A wooden log replaced the previously there Shikamaru.

Orochimaru yelled in anger, his screams echoing throughout the forest. He, not having expertise at running after people, always had Kabuto chase people for him.

"KABUTO! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He yelled, returning to the lair. "GO AFTER THEM NOW, BEFORE THEY ESCAPE!"

However, by the time Orochimaru had even found Kabuto, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Idate, Sasuke and Sakura had all made it far away enough for them not to be found.

Orochimaru sounded out every curse word on the planet, screaming them over and over again. Kabuto slowly slipped out the room. At times like this, it was better just to leave him alone.

_6 HOURS LATER_

_Where am I?_

_What happened?_

_Ugghh! What is this banging pain in my head?!_

Sakura slowly opened her eyes. In front of her she saw a blinding white room, and a few hospital beds.

_Baka,_ She thought, _Of course I would be in Hospital..._

Slowly, she got out of bed. Sakura looked down. She was dressed in a simple pale blue hospital gown that came about 2 inches abov her knees. In her arm, there was an IV, a clear liquid dripping into her arm.

A mirror hung on the wall a few steps away from her. Wheeling her IV drip along with her and walking towards it, she studied her appearance, putting her hands on her face to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Looking a few inches down, she gasped and backed away from the mirror.

Huge, terrible purple bruise marks wrapped themselves around her neck, making her neck almost entirely a purpe/red. Her hands went to her neck, and she whimpered slightly.

"Ahh, yes, I believe that is where you were strangled Sakura. Those snakes of his can be pretty strong huh?"

Sakura jerked her head to the left, where she saw Tsunade standing with Kakashi. "Unless Sasuke has just gone to town on your neck, that is" She joked, walking towards her.

"W-What happened?"

"Well the snakes you can probably remember. When a person has a lack of air for a period of time, they pass out. Luckily Kakashi was there to carry you back here."

"What about the others? Where are they? Are they alright?"

"See for yourself.." Tsunade gestured towards another hospital bed.

In the bed she gestured toward lay Sasuke. He had his eyes closed.

Sakura ran up next to him. Taking his hand in hers, she squeezed his hand and gave it a little kiss.

Sasuke's eyes opened. "S-Sakura..." He croaked slowly.

"Sasuke! I'm so glad you're okay!" Sakura said, a few tears of relief rolling down her face.

Sasuke's hand came up to caress Sakura's face. He smiled at her weakly. "Sakura...What happened to your neck?"

"Oh I'm fine, just a bruise is all..."

"I-I love you Sakura..."

"I love you too.."

Sakura leaned down and slowly pressed her lips against his, pulling him insto a deep long kiss. Their tongues danced together, the kiss getting more and more urgent, Sasuke's hands running through Sakura's hair. Sasuke frowned and moaned slightly into the kiss. It felt so good to finally kiss her again.

"AHHEMM!" Kakashi cleared his throat. "Keep in mind Sakura, both of you are still not recovered fully yet and need to rest. You shouldn't be doing those sort of things in front of us anyway."

Sakura kissed his forehead. Blushing slightly, she stood up and nodded and walked back to her bed.

"And Idate? Is he okay?"

"Idate is fine. He's in a seperate ward as of now, as all his ribs were broken and he needs extra care but he'll be fine."

"A-And the Haruno crystal?"

"Sasuke protected it with his life. It is safe and sound with your parents now. Everything is back to normal." Tsunade smiled.

Sakura fell back upon her pillows and sighed contently.

All she could think of was how grateful she was to Sasuke. He had risked his life to save her, and the Haruno crystal, stopping at nothing to get her back.

_Sasuke...Arigato_ She thought as she drifted off into another deep, peaceful sleep.

-- -- -- --

Holy crap that took a long time!

Well, that's the end! I hoped you liked my story!

Now just before I go, I would like to say, PLEASE review, don't just favorite or add to story alerts! On my last chapter I saw a lot of people who had just added to story alerts and not reviewed, and I'll be honest, it got me kinda mad. I mean i think it's just nice to drop in a review, and tell the writer you appreciate their story.

Okay, sorry for that mini rant there, I just had to get it out. I always try my hardest to reply to reviews, and also it's the last chapter so why not review? I'm not looking for endless praise, just tell me what you thought, as constructive criticism is a huge help.

However, thankyou to all the people who are reading my story, even if you don't review. Thankyou soo much you guys, especially to the people who reviewed, and it gives me so much motivation to keep on writing! Thankyou so much!


	8. AUTHORS NOTE

Hi guys,

I just wanted to give a note of apology to everybody :(

I'm sorry if I came off mean in my last authors note at the end of chapter 7! I really didn't mean to rant that much, and to tell the truth I was spurred on by my sister as we had just had this huge row over cupcakes...Basically she thought I had done something to her batch to make them not taste good cos they were for her friend, and it just escelated cos I really didn't lol. (don't ask)

Anyway, I just want you guys to know how much I appreciate it, even if you don't review, cos reading and adding to faves/story alerts still gives me this huge massive smile when I see it in my inbox! So yeah, I haven't been kind enough and I'm sorry. You absolutely don't have to review if you don't want to

So yeah, I'm really really really sorry, and I hope you can forgive me!

Not sure if you guys like virtual cookies/or are sick of me going on about them, but I've made some for you anyway!

Anyway, sorry again, and THANKYOU, to all of you!

-Kathi


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